The role of the dad in families is rapidly changing. I know, state the obvious, eh? More fathers are opting to be the stay at home caregiver, there’s an increased interest for dads to be a bigger participant in their children’s lives, and more men are questioning their priorities. And that’s a good thing. Because if…
Tag Archive: Fatherhood
Two-fer Tuesday: The Revolution and Baby Burritos
My apologies for missing a week of posts, including Two-fer Tuesdays, last week. Natural Papa was hit not once, but twice, by hackers, and it was a major deal to clean all of the code out of the site. (If you’re on GoDaddy hosting, you might want to check yours as well. See this post…
The Evolution of Dad Film
I’m looking forward to seeing the completed film The Evolution of Dad, to be released on Father’s Day 2010. Here’s the trailer: The Evolution of Dad is a thought-provoking documentary about what it means to be a contemporary American father. Following the personal journey of filmmaker and dad, Dana H. Glazer, the film explores how…
Two-fer Tuesday: Dads and Toddlers, Tiger and Jesse
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted a Two-fer, but I’m back on track now. My process for picking these is simple: Open up my feed reader (I love Feedly for RSS subscriptions), scan through my ‘fathers’ and ‘parenting’ folders, looking for gems to share with you. If you’ve got a favorite post I…
Giants of Men
[This is a revised version of a post originally published on Jan. 11, 2009, one that I felt was worth revisiting.] This weekend, I buried my grandfather. He was a giant among men, and will be sorely missed. He lost his wife of 65 years to cancer over two years ago, and he still lived…
Don’t Point That Thing at Me: 02.12.10
Be careful of kids with cameras. And never post the photos they take of you on the web.
It’s Not the Fall So Much as the Impact
I had a major reality check this last week. Maybe reality check is not the correct term for it – perhaps mortality check is. Something happened to me that changed my life in the space of a single second. I’m writing this propped up in a reclining lawn chair in my living room, with my…
Tiny Commitments: A Daily Dad Schedule
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been noticing the tendency in myself to easily make time for a quick phone call or email during my day if it’s work related, but a reluctance to be able to fit in some of the more important things every day, such as really connecting with my wife…
A Look Back at the Best of Natural Papa 2009
As we close out 2009, I’ve been looking back at the year’s posts and the traffic and link love I’ve received from other blogs, with an eye toward pointing you to the most read articles here. I was pleasantly surprised to notice that according to my WordPress statistics plugin, Natural Papa has now received over…
Advice to Myself as a Young Man
This year I turned 40, and along with the realization that I’m now middle-aged (ack!) came some meditations on the life lessons I’ve learned so far (or not learned, as the case may be). As part of that process of introspection, I found myself wondering what I wish I had heard (and taken to heart)…
When Does a Boy Become a Man? Our Missing Rites of Manhood
At what point in a boy’s life does he become a man? How does his community, his father and uncles and grandpas, acknowledge that transition and begin the initiation and mentoring process of bringing him into the brotherhood of men? With our daughters, we can acknowledge their ascent to young womanhood when they start their…
Do What You Love, Not Just What Makes You Money
All of us need to have something in our life that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with making a living, or making our family happy, or meeting someone else’s needs. When we don’t fill ourselves up by pursuing our passions, we get emptied out and have nothing to give to others. I’ve been doing…
Natural Fatherhood: My Credo
I’ve had a number of dads (and moms) ask me why I choose to use the term ‘natural fatherhood’, as opposed to just fatherhood or parenting. One of the first things I bring up is the idea of natural parenting – a parenting style that fits closely with my personal ideals. Everyone defines it a…
10 Tips for Positive Parenting
Sometimes, parenting skills can be learned from the most unlikely places. Like business, for example. I’ve had my own business, managed businesses for others, and worked for a number of employers, both good and bad. The following positive parenting tips all come from lessons I’ve learned during those experiences, and I hope you’ll find something…
Homebirth Dads: 10 Questions with Adam Pedley
10 Questions for Homebirth Dads with Adam Pedley Adam Pedley is a father of 2 boys and is in the business of helping others. One of the support groups he runs with his wife is Home Birth My Birth. 1. Why did you choose homebirth? Well, I didn’t choose homebirth, my wife did. My wife…
